The invention relates to practice ammunition including a marking agent.
In the use of practice ammunition of this kind—such as practice shells and practice bombs—it is important to mark the impact site so as to obtain optimum practice results. To this end, the practice ammunition comprises a head with a chamber containing a marking agent, preferably a powder with a reddish color. The head is made of a material which when striking a target will burst and release the colored powder. The powder is scattered within some radius about the impact site, thus marking the latter optically. However, the colored powder is visible only under conditions of sufficient brightness; under low light or at night it will not be visible unless powerful night viewing equipment is used.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,450 discloses a practice projectile in which the marking agent is contained in a burstable hood at the head of the practice projectile. The marking agent has chemical components contained in separate frangible compartments which are mixed and react chemically as the compartments burst when the practice projectile strikes its target, this chemical reaction causing the optical marking to be produced. A practice projectile of this kind will make its impact visible at night as well.
The German Patent Publication No. DE-AS 11 99 660 discloses a practice projectile to be fired from a barrel-type weapon and also having a marking agent comprising chemical components contained in a plurality of separate frangible compartments. In this projectile, these compartments are designed to burst when the projectile leaves the muzzle. This will cause the practice projectile to come apart and to eject from the muzzle of the barrel a mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke visible from a great distance. The firing of live ammunition will thus be simulated in a more realistic manner.